Hundreds of Iraqis seek asylum at the United Nations in Turkey every day

(IraqiNews.com) On Wednesday a representative from the Union of Iraqi Refugees in Turkey confirmed that every day hundreds of Iraqi citizens go to the United Nations in Turkey to seek asylum, indicating that the deteriorating security situation has pushed Iraqis to seek refuge in Western countries.

The representative of the Union of Iraqi refugees in Turkey, Rose Aziz said, in an interview for IraqiNews.com, that “the deterioration of the security situation in a number of Iraqi cities pushed Iraqi citizens to seek asylum in foreign countries,” asserting that “hundreds of Iraqi citizens are visiting the United Nations Headquarters in Ankara in order to conduct interviews to seek asylum.”

Aziz said, “Most of the asylum seekers are from the families of hot security zones or under the control of militants of the organization of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant,” noting that “between 100 to 200 Iraqi people register their names daily so as to book an appointment to meet with the United Nations to seek asylum.”

Aziz pointed out that “the Iraqi asylum-seekers are from various ethnic groups such as the Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Shabak, Turkmen, Christians, Muslims and the Yazidi,” asserting that “most of them are living in difficult economic situations, and humanitarian organizations did not provide them with assistance so far.”

Aziz predicted that “the acceptance of the request of some Iraqi refugees against the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation and sectarian violence in their areas.”

Turkey has thousands of Iraqi refugees, the majority of them went to it after 2003, and most of them used Turkey as a station to reach the Western countries.